Padres steal one from Dodgers

Everth Cabrera steals home as Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis tags him without the ball in the ninth inning. That run tied the game, and Will Venable broke the tie by following Cabrera home as the ball went to the backstop.
Reed Saxon — AP

Everth Cabrera steals home as Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis tags him without the ball in the ninth inning. That run tied the game, and Will Venable broke the tie by following Cabrera home as the ball went to the backstop.
/ AP

LOS ANGELES  Everth Cabrera had a fitting summation of one of the more bizarre finishes in Padres history.

“I wanted to try something different,” the infielder said Saturday night after he and Will Venable scored on a combination stolen base/throwing error with two out in the ninth to give the Padres a 7-6 win over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

Cabrera had reached third with the tying run with no one out in the ninth.

But he was still at third as Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen moved to within a strike of working out of monumental jam to give the Dodgers an 11th straight win over the Padres in Los Angeles.

“Cabby was looking for a way,” said Padres third base coach Glenn Hoffman. “A couple of pitches earlier, he asked me if he could steal home if Jansen went to a windup.”

Hoffman said no.

But as Jansen prepared to throw his 2-and-2 pitch to Alexi Amarista, the pitcher turned his back to the plate while trying to clean dirt out of his cleats. While doing so, he neglected to call time out.

Cabrera, who was farther off third than usual, saw an opening and broke for the plate.

“That’s when it got crazy,” said Venable. “Suddenly there’s a lot of confusion. I didn’t even see Cabby break at first.”

As Cabrera broke for the plate with the tying run, Jansen turned and threw home. A good throw would have nailed Cabrera. In fact, plate umpire Greg Gibson first signaled Cabrera out – adding to an already confusing situation.

But Jansen’s throw flew past Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis and shot to the backstop as Cabrera slid across the plate with the tying run, Venable saw his opportunity unfolding. “No one was covering home,” said Venable.

As Ellis raced to retrieve the ball, Jansen stood motionless on the mound. Ellis had the ball with ample time if Jansen had covered the plate. Instead, Venable beat Jansen to the plate with the winning run.

“It’s one of those plays that happens so fast that you don’t even think about the second guy,” said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.

“Cabby is a very aggressive baserunner,” said Padres manager Bud Black. “He’s always looking to take the extra base. And Will was heads up on the back end. That play caught everyone by surprise except Cabrera and Venable.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before. But Cabby thinks about those things.”

Sadly, Cabrera had a lot of time to think about the possibilities after reaching third with the tying run and no one out in the ninth – nearly getting stranded as Jansen came within a pitch of working his way out of a huge jam.

Cabrera entered the game as a pinch-runner after Yonder Alonso opened the ninth with a line drive single to left. Cabrera’s penchant for the extra base was evident on the next play as he raced to third on Venable’s short opposite-field single down the left field line.

That put Padres at first and third with no one out in the ninth and the Dodgers protecting a one-run lead.

Jansen drew first blood by striking out Cameron Maybin at the end of an 11-pitch duel.

With pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay up, Venable stole second without a play to put Padres at second and third. But Kotsay popped out, bringing up Amarista – and giving Cabrera the idea of “trying something different.”

“Cabby was studying Jansen’s body language, looking for an opening,” said Hoffman. “He got it and pounced.”

The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Padres with Huston Street picking up his 14th save with a perfect ninth. It was also the Padres first win at Dodger Stadium since May 1, 2011. Since that date until last night the Padres had lost 10 straight game at Dodger Stadium and were 4-18 overall against the Dodgers.

Earlier Satrurday night, the combination of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier continued to torment the Padres.

Ethier snapped a 4-4 tie with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth giving him four RBI in the game and Kemp also had three hits to raise his average against the Padres to .528 this season as the Dodgers forged leads of 3-1, 4-2 and 6-4 before a sellout crowd of 54,014.

The Dodger outfielders came off the disabled list together Friday night just in time to continue their assault on Padres pitching.

Kemp, who missed 51 with a hamstring strain, is 5-for-9 in the first two games of this series and is 19-for-36 on the season against the Padres with six homers and 15 RBI.

Ethier, who missed 11 games before the break with an oblique strain, is hitting .317 (13-for-41) against the Padres this season with three homers and 20 RBI.

The pair collaborated in the sixth. Kemp singled after Padres right-hander Brad Brach retired the first two Dodgers he faced in relief of Edinson Volquez. Ethier followed with a drive deep into the right-field pavilion.

After scoring an unearned run in the first, the Padres fell behind 4-2 as the Dodgers took advantage of some command problems experienced by Volquez.

But the Padres rallied behind a pair of homers.

Carlos Quentin hit a solo shot over the center field fence in the fourth off former Padre Aaron Harang. The homer was Quentin’s eighth of the season and temporarily tied him for the Padres lead.It was also his first homer since June 29 and only his third since he hit five in his first six games off the disabled list.

Chase Headley then tied the score in the top of the sixth with a two-run homer to right off Harang. The homer was Headley’s ninth of the season and raised his RBI total to 44 – matching his total for all of 2011.

The Padres pulled to within a run of the Dodgers in the top of the eighth when Quentin singled home Amarista, who opened the inning with a double. The hit gave Quentin three RBI for the night, the other coming in the first on an infield grounder.